"Sometimes good things fall apart
so better things can fall together."

 "And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him..."
~ Romans 8:28

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"No matter how many mistakes you make
or how slow you progress,
you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying."

"Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."
~ Philippians 3:13 & 14

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"Making one person smile
can change the world –
maybe not the whole world,
but THEIR world."

Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones."
~ Proverbs 16:24 

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Paul is the writer for Ephesians:

"Long ago, before He made the world,

God chose us to be His very own,

through what Christ would do for us;

He decided then to make us holy in His Eyes,

without a single fault---

we who stand before Him covered with His Love.

His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into Him own family

by sending Jesus Christ to die for us.

And He did this because He wanted to!"

~ Ephesians 3:3 - 5 LAB

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Bible Commentary on these verses:  "Paul said, 'God chose us,' to emphasize that salvation depends totally on God. We are not saved because we deserve it, but because God is gracious and freely gives it. We did not influence God's decision to save us; He did it according to His plan. Thus there is no way to take credit for our salvation, or to find room for pride. The mystery of salvation originated in the timeless mind of God long before we existed. It is hard to understand how God could accept us, but because of Christ we are holy and blameless in His eyes. God chose you and me, and when we belong to Him through Jesus Christ, He looks at us as if we have never sinned."

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Today's Max Lucado. It is titled "Praying Bold Prayers". When I read it, I think I might be good a praying bold prayers but do I believe that they will be answered as just asked? I want to!

PRAYING BOLD PRAYERS

"How bold are your prayers? As John Wesley crossed the Atlantic, he was reading in his cabin and became aware of heavy winds knocking the ship off course. He responded in prayer. A colleague wrote it down:

"Almighty and everlasting God…Thou holdest the winds in thy fists and sittest upon the water floods…command those winds and these waves that they obey Thee. Take us speedily and safely to the haven whither we would go.

"Having offered the prayer, Wesley took up his book and continued reading. On deck his colleague found calm winds and the ship on course. Wesley made no mention of the answered prayer. His friend wrote, So fully did he expect to be heard that he took it for granted he was heard.

"How bold are your prayers?"

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Number three of "Three Stages of Perfection". We can't be 'perfect' nor 'do' perfect. It is a God Thing.

Number 1 was Perfect Relationship:  "We arr perfect because of our eternal union with the infinitely perfect Christ."

Number 2 was Perfect Progress. "We can grow and mature spiritually as we continue to trust Christ, learn more about him, draw closer to him, and obey him.

Now we are at Number 3: Completely Perfect:  "When Christ returns to take us into his eternal Kingdom, we will be glorified and made completely perfect. See Philippians 3:20, 21."

"All phases of perfection are grounded in faith in Christ and what he has done, not what we can do for him. We cannot perfect ourselves; only God can work in and through us until his task is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns."

"And I am sure that God who began this good work within you will keep right on helping you grow in his grace until his task with you is finally finished on that day when Jesus Christ returns."

~ Philippians 1:6 LAB

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Today's entry taken from "365 Days of Prayer for Women" by Stephanie Sample:

FULLY COMMITTED

"Devote yourselves completely to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day."
~ I Kings 8:61 NKJV

 "Lord, I belong to you. I adore you, and I want to live my life fully committed to you. I realize there are days---maybe more than not---when I don't behave as though this were true, but that is not what is in my heart. Knowing Jesus laid down his perfect life for me, I want only to honor his sacrifice by doing the same. Because I am weak, I know that even though I want this, I can't do it without your help. Strengthen me, God, to live my life for you. I surrender all i am and all I have to your will."

"How can we be completely devoted to the Lord?'

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Just for fun! Taking a look back at a Karen's Korner from 20 years ago - January 9!

Today is Monday, January 9th, 2006; Karen's Korner #711

Luke 8:1 - 3 -- "He (Jesus) began a tour of the cities and villages of Galilee to announce the coming of the Kingdom of God, and took his twelve disciples with him. Some women went along, from whom he had cast out demons or whom he had healed; among them were Mary Magdalene....Joanna.......Susanna, and many others, who were contributing from their private means to the support of Jesus and his disciples."

 
Commentary -- "Jesus raised women from degradation and servitude to fellowship and service. In Jewish culture, women were not supposed to learn from rabbis. By allowing these women to travel with him, Jesus was showing that all people are equal under God. These women supported Jesus' ministry with their own money. They owed a great debt to him, for he had cast demons out of some and had healed others."
 
Karen's Comment - Jesus had a better place for women in His kingdom than the culture allowed at the time. And He continues the practice in to today. Man or woman, adult or child, all of us are very special to Jesus, His work, and His kingdom

To kickoff our Sunday School class yesterday, we began with a six-minute video clip featuring a small country church in Nigeria.

Armed terrorists broke in to the church services and began shooting. Some of the worshipers were killed; others were wounded. Ten-year-old Victoria, who survived the assault, recounted some of her experience. With a tear leaking out the corner of her left eye and rolling down her chubby cheek, she told that her dad was one of the church-goers who was killed.

"But I will see him again when we meet one day in heaven," Victoria said.

Of all the Christian persecution deaths worldwide in 2022 and 2023, 90% were in Nigeria.

And the Christian persecution deaths continue there today!

God,
help us to remember
Christian deaths at the hands of others
around the world.
Stop the slaughter.
Thank You that You take care of Victoria
and victims everywhere.
Thank You that those of us 
who believe in You can stand strong
in our faith, with Your abiding help!
Death at the hands of others
is no surprise to You!
And like, Victoria, helps us to remember
that we will see our loved ones again.
Help us!
Lead us!
Guide us!
In the Name of Your Son,
Amen.

Just beginning my reading in the book of Ephesians. Not that I haven't read it before but I really like it.

My Bible is pretty marked up over the years. One time I wrote:

  "It is God's will---not ours!"
"His grace---not ours!"

We don't contribute much, we just show up and participate!

"Long ago, before He made the world,

God chose us to be His very own,

through what Christ would do for us;

He decided then to make us holy in His Eyes,

without a single fault---

we who stand before Him covered with His Love.

His unchanging plan has always been to adopt us into Him own family

by sending Jesus Christ to die for us.

And He did this because He wanted to!"

~ Ephesians 3:3 - 5 LAB

*

Bible Commentary on these verses:  "Paul said, 'God chose us,' to emphasize that salvation depends totally on God. We are not saved because we deserve it, but because God is gracious and freely gives it. We did not influence God's decision to save us; He did it according to His plan. Thus there is no way to take credit for our salvation, or to find room for pride. The mystery of salvation originated in the timeless mind of God long before we existed. It is hard to understand how God could accept us, but because of Christ we are holy and blameless in His eyes. God chose you and me, and when we belong to Him through Jesus Christ, He looks at us as if we have never sinned."

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Today's email from Anne Graham Lotz. She tells about the devil. He might have other names:  'evil' and 'negativity'.

The Devil's Already Defeated

The devil, who deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone......forever."
~Revelation 20:10 NKJV

"As a girl growing up in western North Carolina, I loved to hike in the mountains. But whenever I set out, my mother's admonition, 'Watch out for snakes!' would ring in my ears. Although I can remember killing only one snake myself, I was present at various times when snakes were killed by others. Each time I observed a
fascinating phenomenon. After the snake was killed, its body invariably continued to twitch until sundown. Even though its head was crushed, rendering it powerless, the dead snake's writhing body was enough to keep me at a distance. After sundown it would finally lie still.

"You and I need to remember that ever since the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Satan has been a defeated foe. His head has been crushed. As you and I seek to climb higher in our faith and service and knowledge of God what we are confronted with is merely the twitching of his defeated body. But sundown is coming! One day even the twitching body of that old Serpent, the Devil, will be destroyed."

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One of my Christmas presents was a new puzzle! I have pieces all over on my card table top which measures 30 x 30 inches. While all the pieces are turned over to face me, some of them are piled on top of one another!

The puzzle once it is completed is about 19 x 27. I am not working hard on it; just finding a few pieces here and there; now and then. But I am finding the more pieces which fit together, the more room I have on my table! Once I get the puzzle completed, I will have room to spare! And my finished piece will look exactly like the picture on the box!

Made me think about our lives. The more we trust In Jesus. The more we work together as a family. Or as a church. Or maybe as a community. The better we 'fit' together! As we use the 'picture' - the Bible - as our Guide, we can make a completed picture!

Completing God’s Law

“Don’t suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures—either God’s Law or the Prophets. I’m not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God’s Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God’s Law will be alive and working."

~ Matthew 5:17 & 18 (The Message)
(Jesus speaking)

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Enjoying my trek through Ephesians. Another Bible verse:

"Because of His kindness you have been saved through trusting Christ.
And even trusting is not of yourselves;
it too is a gift from God.
Salvation is not a reward for the good we have done,
so none of us can take any credit for it."

~ Ephesians 2:8, 9 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  "When someone gives you a gift, do you say, 'That's very nice---now how much do I owe you?'  No, the appropriate response to a gift is 'Thank you.'. Yet how often Christians, even after they have been given the gift of salvation, feel obligated to try to work their way to God. Because our salvation and even our faith are gifts, we should respond with gratitude, praise, and joyfulness.

"We become Christians through God/s unmerited gift to us (grace), not as the result of any effort, ability, intelligent choice, or act of service to others on our part. However, out of gratitude for this free gift, we will seek to help and serve others with kindness, charity, and goodness, and not merely please ourselves. While no action or 'work' we do can help us obtain salvation. God's intention is that our salvation will result in works of service. We are not saved merely for our own benefit but for His---to glorify Him and build up the church.."

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I enjoy all of Sarah Young's "Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presence". But I tend to like some of them better than others.

Here is one from several days ago:

"Let Me bless you with My grace and Peace. Open your heart and mind to receive all that I have for you. Do not be ashamed of your emptiness. Instead, view it as the optimal condition for being filled with My Peace.

"It is easy to touch up your outward appearance, to look as if you have it all together. Your attempts to look good can fool most people. But I see straight through you, into the depths of your being. There is no place for pretense in your relationship with Me. Rejoice in the relief of being fully understood. Talk with Me about your struggles and feelings of inadequacy. Little by little, I will transform your weaknesses into strengths. Remember that your relationship with Me is saturated in grace. Therefore, nothing that you do or don't do can separate you from My Presence."

~ Taken from 1 Samuel 16:7; Romans 8:38 & 39

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Lots of instructions from God and His Word. Being thankful is one of them. Our mental health is enhanced by being thankful, even when we don't feel like it.

"Always give thanks for everything
to our God and Father 
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."

~ Ephesians 5:20 LAB

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Bible Commentary:  ""When we feel down, we may find it difficult to give thanks. We need to take heart -- God works all thing out for good if we love Him and are fitting into His plans (Romans 8:28). We are to thank God, not for our problems, but for the strength He is building in us through the difficult experiences of our lives. We can be sure that God's perfect love will see us through."

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Sorry for being so slow today!

Something from Max Lucado a few days ago.

SPIRITUAL DASHBOARD

"Is there anything in your life that needs to be removed? Any impediment to the impression of God’s Spirit? We can grieve the Spirit with our angry words and resist the Spirit in our disobedience. We can test or conspire against the Spirit in our plottings. We can even quench the Spirit by having no regard for God’s teachings.

""But here’s something that helps us stay in step with the Spirit. It’s in Galatians 5:22: “We know that the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” These are indicators on our spiritual dashboards. So whenever we sense them, we know we are walking in the Spirit. Whenever we lack them, we know we are out of step with the Spirit. Keep in step with the Spirit."

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Something a friend at our church prayer time, read to us yesterday. It was taken from a devotional booklet for December 31 and written by retired Pastor Don Ohm of San Antonio, Texas:

NO INSTANT REPLAY

"The memory of the just is blessed......"
~ Proverbs 10:7a

"We live in the age of 'instant replay' of news, weather, sport, politics, etc. If we miss something the first time, we just log on and view it just as if it were the original time and date. Both fortunately and unfortunately at the same time, real life is not like that. We are not really afforded the opportunity to relive a particular experience differently. You know, we usually wish we would have used more wisdom, compassion, tact or discretion.

"Most memories are not flexible but instead they are fixed. The issue isn't that God doesn't forgive our sins. He certainly does! Nor is the issue that other people cannot overlook our failures, is it not? We can't redo what happened in our ministries last year. We can't re-rear our children. Words cannot be unsaid. Scars won't be completely removed. Tear stains on the delicate fabric of our emotions are more often than not, permanent.

"God give us a NEW START each year, each month, and each day.

The message is crystal clear: pause before you act and think before you speak. Today is tomorrow's yesterday. Today is a memory in the making. Memories are deposits in the bank of time. Let us make these memories good and meaningful. Let us put our best ahead of our better.

"Yes, we are on the precipice of 2026! What will yesterday's replays be on the tomorrow of your life? The answer is not complicated. May God give you the best year of your life!"

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Karen's Comment:  It is one thing to recap our sins - mistakes we have made - at the end of each day! But let's not forget to remember a thing or two that we did right. For which we are thankful to God! Something that maybe only you could have done!

I started sending Karen's Korners in March 2003. It has just been the last few months when I have been looking back at any of them and reading them.

I enjoy some of them! Here is one from right when I started. From today's date; number 721:

Today is Monday, January 23rd, 2006; Karen's Korner #721

This is a great story and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

A true story by Josh and Karen Zarandona 

Brenda was a young woman who was invited to go rock climbing. Although she was very scared, she went with her group to a tremendous granite cliff. In spite of her fear, she put on the gear, took hold of the rope, and
started up the face of that rock.  Well, she got to a ledge where she could take a breather. 

As she was hanging on there, the safety rope snapped against Brenda's eye and knocked out her contact lens.
Well, here she is, on a rock ledge, with hundreds of feet below her and hundreds of feet above her. Of course, she looked and looked and looked, hoping it had landed on the ledge, but it just wasn't there.

Here she was, far from home, her sight now blurry. She was desperate and began to get upset, so she prayed to
the Lord to help her to find it. When she got to the top, a friend examined her eye and her clothing for the lens, but there was no contact lens to be found. She sat down, despondent, with the rest of the party,waiting for the rest of them to make it up the face of the cliff.

She looked out across range after range of mountains, thinking of that verse that says, "The eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth." 

She thought, "Lord, You can see all these mountains. You know every stone and leaf, and You know exactly where my contact lens is. Please help me."

Finally, they walked down the trail to the bottom. At the bottom there was a new party of climbers just starting up the face of the cliff.  One of them shouted out, "Hey, you guys! Anybody lose a contact lens?"

Well, that would be startling enough, but you know why the climber saw it?  An ant was moving slowly across the face of the rock, carrying it on it's back.

Brenda told me that her father is a cartoonist. When she told him the incredible story of the ant, the
prayer, and the contact lens, he drew a picture of an ant lugging that contact lens with the words, "Lord, I don't know why You want me to carry this thing. I can't eat it, and it's awfully heavy. But if this is what You want me to do, I'll carry it for You."

I think it would probably do some of us good to occasionally say, "God, I don't know why you want me to carry this load. I can see no good in it and it's awfully heavy. But, if you want
me to carry it, I will."

God doesn't call the qualified, He qualifies the called. 

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